Something Nameless and Beautiful
by Bellalyse Winchester
Summary: Abby Maitland didn't need to know his name to fall in love. The consequences she may regret, but the feelings she never will.
1. Chapter 1

_March 27, 2012_

Connor Temple was not a safe man when he was on edge, but through some indescribable miracle—Lester decided beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was nothing less than a godsend—Jess had discovered just the thing to keep him from hysteria. Instead of pacing through the ARC, dragging the morale of the entire team down through the floor, Connor was poring over the newfound journal of Professor Nick Cutter.

He didn't mind that much of it they'd already discovered; obviously, if Cutter had known or guessed anything spectacular, he'd kept it in his head. None of that mattered, because they were the words of his beloved mentor, whom the entire ARC had revered—though he'd been somewhat deified in the eyes of Connor.

Not to mention that the words stole him away from reality for a moment, to a realm of clear logic, where it didn't matter—not any of it. He pushed a tear from the corner of his eye quickly.

As he pushed through the pages, one selection caught his eye. It was loose from the spine, as if it had been torn violently, and then replaced with care. He read the first few sentences, unable to stifle his curiosity:

_"Claudia Brown is gone. I doubt there's a heart in the world not set on breaking mine. Time is certainly my infernally vowed foe; he has stolen from me my beautiful Abby, corrupted my Helen, and now murdered—_"

Connor broke off, returning to one phrase. "Stolen his beautiful Abby," he murmured thoughtfully. So the professor had his own Abby in his own time; she had been spirited away by time as well? But if that had been before Helen…how could time have taken her? Quickly he shook his head. "Poetic, weren't you, Cutter?" he said with a smile, turning back a few more pages. "Descendant of Shakespeare—no, Shakespeare's kids died before he had grandkids. Although—he was a bit of a ladies' man, wasn't he, Shakespeare?" He couldn't contain a snort. "That's you, Cutter, Shakespeare had a little one-nighter with a Scottish barmaid—"

As he laughed, suddenly the book slipped from his hands. He cursed, scrambling to collect the pages and pictures that had scattered. They were all across the floor; it was almost an encyclopedia of Cutter, and now it was in shambles. Jess chose that moment to enter the room.

"Oh—that's one way to look at the pages, isn't it?"

Connor rolled his eyes. "If you're done laughing, help me with these, _please_. I don't want to lose anything in this."

Jess pouted, getting on her knees beside Connor. "Fine," she said, mocking offense. "Trying to break the tension—you know, you're no fun when you're upset. I want to get your mind off things."

Connor gritted his teeth. Of course she just wanted to help, but a darker corner of his mind wanted him to suffer. He couldn't shake the idea that it was his fault; if he hadn't taken his eyes from Abby for that moment, she might not have run through…

"C—Connor?"

"Yeah, I know, be positive. I know you're just trying to—"

"_Connor." _He turned to meet her gaze; she was staring at a slip of photos from a photo booth with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"What is it?"

Jess shook her head. "I—I thought I'd seen everything. I thought…Connor, it's her."

"Who?"

She couldn't tear her eyes from the photograph, and Connor snatched it from her roughly. His throat clenched and he felt his heart drop. Peering out at him with bright, joyful eyes were two faces: a youthful, grinning Cutter and a bright-eyed Abby. From top to bottom they laughed out at him; her arms about his neck, his about her waist, miming secret agent poses, and landing kisses on one another's cheeks.

"Connor…this picture has to be at least fifteen years old."

"I think I know where Abby's gotten to."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, before you read, a few notes: **

**I received a couple of comments describing how confusing my story was so far. All I can say: Great! This story may confuse you, make you think, and even frustrate you, and that's all awesome! That's what I want. **

**Time will move quickly in this story, back and forth between different scenes each chapter, so watch the dates carefully. Some story elements will not be explained until later in the story. Be patient.  
**

**Also: I don't know _exact_ dates, so I'm approximating them. Honestly, there _are_ no _exact_ dates, but don't crucify me if I'm a year off of fanon or something.  
**

* * *

April 29, 1992

Abby twirled a strand of blond hair about her finger thoughtfully. He was there again, the young, handsome man across the park…she'd seen him for the past few weeks, always out beneath the big tree, always with his nose in a book. Connor had done mad things to her if she was noticing some geeky boy with scraggly blond hair.

"Walk over there," she finally told herself, getting to her feet.

When he looked up at her, he gave her a lopsided grin.

"Well, hello there, miss," he said in a thick Scottish accent. "I've been wondering when you'd come over here, now."

Abby inhaled slowly. "You…were?"

"Sure. I'll have to warn you, though, I've got quite an entourage of ladies trying to get at me." There was a mischievous glint in his eye, and Abby released a tense laugh that grew easier over a few moments.

"You're making fun of me," she said, sitting down beside him.

"Oh, no, miss. Don't you see all the ladies?" He raised his hands, gesturing at the empty grass around them before winking at her. "I suppose I'll just have to tell my other girlfriends to scram for the night."

Abby raised her eyebrows. "Are you making plans?"

"Depends. You free tonight?"

Abby smiled gently. "Every night," she nodded before reaching to his lap and snatching up his book. "You're quite the ladies' man, Mr…Paleontology."

"Evolutionary biology," the man replied, reclaiming the book. "I know, dinosaurs in it you'd _think_ paleontology, but evolutionary biology is—"

"You don't just study the past, but the present and the future, too," Abby finished. The man raised his eyebrows, impressed. "How everything connects. The missing pieces."

"May I ask, are you a college girl then, miss?"

"Dropped out," Abby replied before thinking. "I mean—I got offered the job of a lifetime halfway through first semester. A keeper at the zoo—only, not anymore."

The man blushed scarlet. "Oh," he said before glancing at his watch and doing a double-take. "Oh, _shite!_"

He pulled his books to his chest and got to his feet quickly. "Ten minutes late for Chemistry—new record for earliness, actually—gotta go."

"When and where tonight?" Abby asked eagerly.

"Ah—the fast food place over…that way," he said, pointing off vaguely, (though she could guess at where he meant) fumbling with his things.

"My name's Abby, by the way," Abby called as he scrambled away.

"My Abby!" he repeated in a dramatic shout, walking backwards and throwing his hands into the air, and she giggled. "The name's Nick Cutter!"

Her smile fell into a small 'o' as he turned and ran off towards the university.


	3. Chapter 3

January 12, 2008

Abby and Jenny watched as the professor was led away by Connor quickly; the younger woman took a step towards the other and set a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't take it personally," she said with a gentle smile. "The professor's a bit…eccentric, but he's a good guy when you get to know him."

"You don't say," Jenny replied, inhaling slowly. Lester raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. I suppose I don't even need to say my pride is breaking just to say this, but he's one of the most brilliant men of this century. Not that the bar is set very high…" He pursed his lips, swallowing.

"See? If he says so, it's _got_ to be right," Abby said, lowering her voice. "He's not about to dish out any frivolous complements without legitimate reason."

Jenny smiled a little at that. "So…this place functions a bit like a family? Everybody seems to be very relaxed around one another."

"One of the facts of life I greatly lament," Lester said, pacing back upstairs to his office. Abby cocked her head to the side, swallowing before speaking to Jenny.

"You know…Cutter thought he knew _me_ before we met," she murmured. Jenny gave a light laugh in reply.

"As who? Another Claudia—Brown?"

Abby smiled sympathetically. "No—he thought he knew _me_. He decided after a little while that he just knew someone who _looked_ like me. Said it was years ago, I would've just been a kid."

Jenny raised her eyebrows. "Obviously a ladies' man, then, this professor? It says in his profile he has a wife, Helen Cutter, who continues to elude authority's grasp."

Abby smirked a little at that. "Ladies' man…? Perhaps in his own mind. Bit like Connor."


End file.
